Cupid's Match
by iuliiiiana
Summary: Some people bring out the worst in you, others bring out the best, and then there are those who just bring out the most.Of everything. Natsu Dragneel: Hot,athletic,and popular,with an ego the size of the Empire State Building. Lucy Heartfilia: Clumsy,uncoordinated-and-most-definitely-not-athletic,sarcastic,with an unfortunate affinity for making self destructive life decisions.
1. Chapter 1

Helloooo there :) Here's a new story I've been having in my head for a while and I decided to give it a try. So please share your thoughts with me and tell me if it's worth it to continue it.

Enjoy! :3

* * *

 **Cupid's Match**

 **chapter 1**

This just had to be the _worst_ day of Lucy's life. There was no other way to describe it. Okay, maybe you could also say awful, dreaded, atrocious, grim, horrid, terrible, wretched… and so many other synonyms that Lucy could not come up with at the moment as she was staring her father right in the eyes.

She tried her best to mimic a genuine smile, but she was sure that it came out all fake. Luckily, her father didn't notice, or so she hoped.

"Are you as happy as I am, my sweet Lucy?" He asked grinning happily, bringing Lucy in for a tight hug. Lucy's arms remained lifelessly at her sides as she inwardly groaned. She stifled a sniff and her father let go of her, the radiant smile still very much present on his face.

"Oh my dear daughter, crying tears of happiness for me and my special day. I am so happy! I have to call and tell everyone the big news!" He kissed his daughter on the cheek before bolting out of her room.

Lucy's legs trembled under her and she crumbled to the floor in a crying mess.

" _I'm getting re-married, Lucy!"_ was what her father had told her and it was enough to destroy her. How could he possibly re-marry someone? Had her mother not been the love of his life? Was her death the end of their love? Was he just going to marry another woman and forget everything about his deceased wife? About her _mother_?

Lucy wiped furiously at her cheeks, trying to stop the tears from falling down onto her bare thighs, but it was useless. Her eyes were literally pouring down fountains.

She stood up on shaky legs, and slowly made her way to the desk, turning on the pink laptop on it, and pulled out the napkins from the drawer. She blew her nose and wiped her tears and make-up stains from around her eyes as best as she could before hastily opening up the Skype chat with Levy's name as the contact.

"EMERGENCY!" Her fingers trembled as she tried to find the right keys on the keyboard. A video chat bubble appeared in seconds on the screen and she accepted it.

Levy's eyes widened seeing the sniffling, crying, red-nosed, make-up stained mess that Lucy was in. "Oh my god, Lu-chan! What's wrong?"

"My-my fath-father", sniffle, "is getting ughhh", ugly sob, "remarriedddddd!", full out crying _._

Levy's hands flew to her open mouth as a gasp escaped her lips. She watched her friend cry her soul out until there were no more tears left to cry, all while trying to comfort her, without succeeding.

It took Lucy a whole half an hour of talking to Levy to will herself to stop crying and get up from her desk to take a cold shower to wake herself up from this nightmare. It had to be a nightmare. There was no other plausible explanation.

Sure she wanted her father to be happy and get himself out of the depressing state that the death of her mother had left them both in. But… he had been happy with her mother. Why did he have to be with another woman? He was already old, how could another relationship even help him? Lucy could not possibly understand it.

Well, Lucy could _fully_ understand it. She could clearly see the misery her father had been in since the loss of his wife. She had always wished for him to find another _someone_ to get him back to his former happy self. But now…seeing herself in the situation of having a step-mother…she dreaded the idea.

And who even was this woman? Her father had never told her anything about a female-friend. Let alone future _wife_?! How could he possibly do that to her? To just drop the bomb like that on her head without a prior heads-up?!

She groaned loudly and slammed her hands on the cold bathroom tiles. Looking at herself in the mirror and seeing the sadness in her eyes caused another sob to come out of from between her clenched teeth.

But, no matter how much this would hurt her, she was not going to ruin her father's chance at happiness. Who knows, maybe the special woman in her father's life might actually be a decent person, whom she could have a decent conversation and decent… decent… decent _somethings_?!

Lucy groaned again and closed her eyes, breathing slowly in and out for a couple of minutes. How did the whole step-mother-step-daughter thing even work? Was it like in the movies where the step-mother is a little witch whose plan is to destroy Lucy's life?

She ran a hand through her dripping hair and sighed, sitting down on her neatly made bed. Drips of water fell down her bare back and chest and sent shivers up and down her spine. She shook herself with one of the shivers and stood up abruptly to put on some clothes and to dry her hair.

After she was comfortable and dry in a baggy t-shirt and pyjamas shorts, Lucy climbed in the bed and buried herself under the covers wishing that she could just suffocate. Even though it was barely 7 in the afternoon she felt tired and done with the world for the day. So she shut her eyes tight and forced herself not to cry. Reminiscing beautiful and happy memories from the time that her mother was still alive, Lucy had managed to fall asleep eventually.

* * *

Waking up in the morning had her feeling worse than before. Her father was humming and dancing around in the kitchen, making pancakes and Lucy didn't know whether to barf because of his happiness caused by another woman or be happy for her father. She wanted to do both. But decided on the latter.

She smiled at her old man, a genuine smile that somehow had managed to reach her eyes, and took a seat at the table, shoving in her small mouth pancake after pancake.

At school she could barely focus on anything and at some point she even stopped trying to pay attention to the teachers so she pulled out her phone and hid behind the conveniently massive guy that was standing in front of her, and opened the writing application and tried her best to write a fan fiction, similar to her real-life situation at the moment. She even had to stop herself from crying a couple of times and ignored the boy sitting next to her who kept giving her confused glances every time she sniffled. And that was pretty much every two seconds.

Lucy declined every invitation to hang out after school with her friends, and dragged herself home.

"I'm home…" she sighed the moment she opened the door and her father came running down the stairs to hug his daughter.

"Lucy!" He beamed and she tried her best to return the smile.

Her father pulled her into the living room. "The wedding date has been decided. We're getting married in four days!" He father's face split into a huge grin and Lucy's face drained off all colour. Falling down on the sofa, rows of tears started pouring down from her eyes and she didn't even have the power to stop them anymore. Four days. It will happen in _four_ days.

For the first time her father had realised that Lucy was crying real, sad tears and he knelled down in front oh her. He'd known that this will be her reaction the moment she'll hear that he was getting remarried. Although it did surprise him that it took her so long to finally let out her real emotions in front of him.

He gently caressed the top of her head as he waited for her to calm down before he could speak. Lucy leaned into his warm touch and cried louder, happy that she could finally let it all out.

After what seemed like hours, Lucy had finally stopped and smiled sadly at her father. "I'm sorry papa… I really want you to be happy! It just took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon." It was not soon at all. Her mother had died when she was five years old. So she should really get it together and support her father.

"We'll have to leave tomorrow and set ourselves up at her house in order to be ready and in time for the big day." Jude announced and her world crumbled for the second time in the last couple of days.

Leave? Leave where?

"What do you mean leave?" Lucy's eyebrows furrowed. He does not mean to tell her that they'll have to move to a different city now — does he?

"Oh, I didn't tell you?" Jude's eyebrows shot up, realizing that he didn't tell Lucy anything other than the fact that he was getting married.

"No, you did not. You didn't tell me anything." Lucy glared at him half heartedly and gulped, dreading what her father was about to say.

"Well, we're moving out Lucy. Starting from next week we'll be citizens of Magnolia."

 _No!_

 _NonoNonOnononNOnNonoonNONONOnonono!_

Tears started building up in the corner of her eyes. Like it wasn't enough that he was getting re-married, now they had to move? What about her school, her friends, their house?! What about her? Why had she not been asked about any of this?!

"You can't do this to me! I don't want to leave this place, dad!" Lucy cried out and stood up, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at her old man.

"Please, Lucy, you have to be understanding. This is for our own good."

"How is this for _my_ own good?" She spat out angrily and stomped out of the living room to her own. Slamming the door behind her, Lucy threw herself on the bed and cried again, for the umpteenth time in the past couple of days. She was not gonna leave her friends and her life behind. He can just get married and go live wherever he wants. She'll just stay there and take care of herself like she's done ever since her mother had passed away.

A soft knock on the door brought her back from her thoughts and she shouted "Don't come in!"

The door opened despite her protests and she buried her head in the pillow, not wanting to see her father.

Jude placed his warm hand on her back and massaged it slowly while he spoke softly to his daughter "I am really sorry, my sweet Lucy, that this news upsets you so much. I knew that it will not suit with you from the beginning, but I still hoped that you will be happy with me. I know that you do not want to leave your friends and school behind. But, you can't know until you try. Maybe you'll make better friends and you'll be happier there than you had ever been here. I'm trusting you to make the wisest decision, and to follow your heart. We'll be leaving tomorrow, if you decide to come with me and be by my side in this new beginning. If not, you can stay here. I will support you no matter what."

With that said, Jude got up from the bed and walked out of Lucy's room quietly. He shut the door behind him and Lucy was left alone with her thoughts. She didn't know exactly when, but at some point she had stopped crying while her father was speaking and now she was thinking it through. What was she supposed to do?

Hoping that her best friends, Levy and Cana, might be of some help, she got up from the bed and grabbed her phone from her school bag before plopping back on the soft bed to call her friends. It only took them a minute to answer the video call and the phone's screen split in two, showing both of the girls. The little blunette girl smiled warmly at Lucy and waved her hand while Cana grinned and said "Yo!"

Lucy could barely muster up a smile and waved back at the girls before she started telling them the whole thing about the wedding and moving and all that her father had told her.

Silence took over them once Lucy had finished talking, and Cana was the first one to speak up. "Maaan! That's one messed up thing. But, look at the full half of the glass Lucy!" Cana grinned and waved around a half bottle of beer. "Maybe you'll finally meet the love of your life!"

Lucy rolled her eyes but chuckled.

"And also," Cana continued "We'll be able to see each other all the time after you move." Levy nodded at what Cana had said.

The three of them had meet last year when Lucy was accepted in a student exchange program at her school and was sent for a whole semester at a school in Magnolia. They had become best friends immediately and had been talking ever since.

Lucy's eyes widened, just now realising that. "Ohmygod! I totally forgot that you two live in Magnolia!" Suddenly all of her sadness had vanished and a huge smile appeared on her face. "This is great!"

"See? Always the full half, Lucy." Cana smiled back at her friend and Levy started laughing at the fact that Cana was now showing them the empty bottle of beer.

Lucy ended the call and went to talk to her father, to tell him the she was okay with moving in Magnolia and then went to pack her bags since they were leaving early in the morning.

She started to get nervous, thinking that she was going to meet her future step-mother, and went to bed praying that she won't turn out to be some witch ready to destroy her life completely.

* * *

Lucy rolled on her side and turned off the buzzing alarm on her phone, before squinting her eyes at the sunlight coming from her window.

"Here goes nothing." She sighed and got up slowly to take a shower. She applied a faint touch of make up before getting dressed with a floral short dress and put on a pair of white sneakers to be comfortable. She pulled her long hair in a high ponytail, leaving two loose strands of hair in the front to frame her small face perfectly.

"Perfect!" Lucy smiled at herself in the mirror. She was going to make a good impression.

She skipped down the stairs and made her way to the kitchen where her father was waiting with breakfast and they both ate before leaving. Lucy watched with a sad smile as their house was getting further and further away. They were not going to come back since her father had hired someone to pack all of their belongings and send them to their new address. So this was her last time seeing the house that she had grown up in, with her mother and her father. Lucy wiped a stray tear from her cheek before pulling out her phone from her bag. A single text was sent to her best friends "I'm coming to you girls!"

* * *

On the way to her new house, Lucy had managed to fall asleep a couple of times and now was waking up due to her father shaking her. "Come on Lucy, we are here." Her father announced and her eyes shot up open, her heart beating crazily in her chest.

Lucy took a few deep breaths and got off from the car, taking it all in. In front of her was a big, spacious house. Not anywhere close to how big their previous house was, but this one had a nice feeling to it. It really looked like a home. With a nice icy blue paint, blue and purple flowers at every window and in front of the house in the mini-garden. Trees surrounding it, in one of the trees she noticed a tree house and Lucy immediately felt the need to go check it up, but stopped when she noticed four people coming from inside the house. One older woman, two boys who seemed to be the same age as her, and a girl that looked to be a bit older than Lucy. Were they her future step brothers and sister? And step _mother_?

Lucy took a better look at the woman who was smiling warmly at her father. She gave him a hug and Jude kissed the top of her head lovingly. Lucy's eyes clouded for a second, remembering the same scene from when her mother had been the one in her father's arms. She was brought back from her thoughts when her father had called her name to get her attention. They were all standing in front of her now, smiling awkwardly.

"This is Ur. My future wife. I hope that you two will get along." Her father said and placed a hand on the said woman's shoulder. Ur was an extremely beautiful woman, with a slim curvaceous body and short purple hair. She smiled sweetly at Lucy and while she was expecting the woman to shake her hand, Ur pulled Lucy in for a warm hug before looking back at her with a huge smile on her beautiful face. "Hello Lucy! I'm so glad to have finally met you. Your father had told me so much about you! I can't wait to get to know you."

Lucy scratched the back of her head and gave a half smile. She really did not know how to react. "Same, I guess…"

Ur noticed the uneasiness in Lucy's voice but didn't press the matter any further. Instead she turned and pointed to the other three standing next to her. "These are my sons." She said and motioned to the two boys. The first one to come up to her was a boy of average height, with a toned body and bluish-silver, spiky hair. He grabbed Lucy's hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it softly, looking straight at her with his slanted seductive eyes. The first thing that came to Lucy's mind was "Ew! No! We're about to be brothers, don't do that."

"My name is Lyon. It's very nice to meet you." He smiled at her but groaned when the other boy slapped the back oh his head.

"She's your step-sister, dumb ass. Don't go around trying to flirt with her." The tall, dark-haired boy gave Lyon a disgusted look before turning to Lucy, smiling friendly at her.

"Heya Lucy, I'm Gray." He shook Lucy's hand and for the first time that day Lucy had really smiled. Both because the guy seemed nice and because the other one was scowling behind Gray, making silly faces at his brother.

"It's nice to meet you both!" She grinned at her soon-to-be brothers and looked at the girl that she had yet to meet.

"Whatever. I'm Ultear. I'm out of here." The gorgeous girl said in a bored tone and turned around to leave, her long straight hair brushing against her back with every step.

 _I guess I'm not the only one not exactly thrilled with this situation._ Lucy thought and sighed.

"Don't mind her. It's just a phase." Ur said smiling at Lucy, but Lucy could see the slight disappointment in the woman's eyes.

"Oh well, let's get you two settled in." She grabbed her father and Lucy's hands and pulled them after her inside the house. Lucy followed and was grateful to see her new bedroom. It was a simple room, with a big bed in a corner, a large window that gave a wonderful look of the garden outside, a small desk next to it, a big shelve ready for her numerous books to be placed on it and a small walk-in closet. She dropped her bag next to the bed and threw herself on the soft mattress inhaling the nice scent coming from it. _Maybe it won't be that bad, after all._

A knock on her door made her stand up abruptly and she yelled a "Come in" to the person on the other side of the door.

Gray stuck his head slowly through the door and waived awkwardly. Lucy waived back in the same manner, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"Uhm… I'm going out to meet with some friends. Wanna come?"

Lucy thought about it for a second but remembered that she had already made plans with Cana and Levy.

"Oh I would love to… but I already have plans…" She trailed off awkwardly. _He's gonna think I'm trying to find an excuse…_

"Oh?"Gray narrowed his eyes at her.

Lucy walked closer to him. "I've actually been to Magnolia before, with a student exchange program. And I've made some friends here. We're meeting up later." Lucy explained and Gray nodded understanding.

"But, some other time maybe?" she smiled hopefully at him and he grinned back.

"Sure Lucy. I'm sure everyone is going to like you. You seem nice. It really was great meeting you." Gray said and started making his way down the stairs.

"Same!" Lucy called after him and walked back to the bed, sitting on it. She called Levy and waited for the small girl to pick up.

"Yo Lucyyy!" Cana was the one to answer "Levy and I are almost ready. We'll be leaving in ten minutes top. Get your pretty ass there, 'kay?"

Lucy laughed "Yes yes, I'm leaving now." The girls ended the call and Lucy made her way downstairs since she didn't have to change her clothes anyway. She looked great.

She saw her father and Ur talking in the kitchen and slowly walked towards them. She cleared her throat and knocked softly on the kitchen's door. "Hey, sorry to interrupt." Lucy smiled politely at them and played with her fingers.

"Oh don't be silly." Ur smiled back at her. "Are you going out with the boys?" She asked referring to Lyon and Gray. Lucy shook her head.

"No actually, I have some friends here too. We're meeting up now."

"Please tell me they're girls!" Ur grinned hopefully at Lucy and grabbed her shoulders.

Lucy nodded stiffly. What was this about?

"Well, how about you and your friends, along with my daughter Ultear, will be my bridesmaids?"

Lucy's eyes widened. To be the bridesmaid to her father's wedding?

"Um…well…I mean…" she didn't even know what to say.

"Please! It will mean the world to me and your father!" Ur urged, smiling even wider at Lucy.

"Sure… I'll ask them and call you later with the answer."

"Great!" Ur lifted her arms in the air and jumped a little at her own happiness.

Lucy chuckled. Ur was pretty cool. Even though she was making Lucy the bridesmaid at her own father's weeding. The chuckle was gone and Lucy sighed silently before waving at them.

She left the house, only to see Gray arguing with a pink-haired boy.

"You flame ass! Mind your own business!" Gray shouted at the boy while Lucy walked slowly around them, hoping not to get noticed.

"Oh come on Ice Princess! I just wanna say hello!" The other boy shouted back and Lucy glanced at him and saw that he was smirking. And that he was hot. And shirtless. Speaking of, Gray was shirtless too.

… were they into _that_ sort of relationship? _Well, that would be a loss to all girls around_ , Lucy thought as she let her eyes roam over the two shirtless boys. She slapped a hand over her forehead and groaned. Great, now she was turning into a pervert.

The slap on the forehead and the groan made her presence known and the two boys turned to look at her.

The pink-haired boy was staring at her with wide eyes and he slapped the back of Gray's head. "Damn dude! I bet you're sorry she's going to be your sister." A cheeky grin appeared on his face as he walked closer to Lucy, completely ignoring Gray cursing at him.

"Well, hello there." Natsu waived at her and Lucy did the same, a shy smile on her face. The guy was really good looking and Lucy could feel a slight blush coming to adorn her cheeks the moment Natsu gave her a once-over.

"I'm Natsu. You must be Lucy." He gave Lucy a toothy grin.

"Yes, I'm Lucy. Nice to meet you." Lucy greeted, playing shyly with the hem of her short dress. Natsu's eyes followed the move and lingered on her legs a little bit more than necessary and Lucy started squirming under his strong gaze. Finally, Grey came next to them breaking the silence and saving Lucy from the awkward situation.

"Stop staring at her, you creepy pervert!" Gray punched Natsu in the arm and the latter snapped out of the spell that Lucy's long and tanned legs had put him under. He lunged towards Gray to punch him in the face and Lucy took that as her cue to walk away as quietly as possible. As if she was that lucky…

Natsu ran after her, with Grey behind him. Lucy didn't stop and kept looking down at her phone, following the GPS to the coffee shop's location where she was supposed to meet with her friends.

"So…" Natsu trailed off, glancing down at her phone. "Who are we meeting?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes at him. What the hell?

" _We_ are not meeting anyone. I am." Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and scowled when Natsu followed that move with his eyes like he did with her legs before. Was he an actual pervert like Grey had said earlier?

"Oh don't be silly. We're all friends now." Natsu grinned at her and her heart skipped the tiniest beat.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you soooo much for the positive reviews :) I hope that you'll like this chapter as well.

Enjoy! :)

(The words written in italics are Lucy's thoughts)

* * *

Lucy cleared her throat and looked around herself, wondering how in the sweet heaven of chocolate had she ended up in a situation as awkward as this one. Sitting in front of her, at one of the many tables in the coffee shop, was Gray. Naked. Literally naked.

When they left his house, or more like when he and Natsu tagged along uninvited, they both put their shirts back on. By the time they had arrived at their destination, somehow, Gray's shirt was missing again. At some point he went to the bathroom and when he came back he wasn't wearing any pants. And now… he was covering his dingly dong with a napkin.

Lucy could feel heat creeping up her neck to her cheeks and she tried her best to avoid looking in Gray's direction. She glanced at Cana and saw that she was staring without any shame at Gray and making all sorts of sounds and faces like she was ready to devour the guy.

Lucy kicked her leg under the table and glared at her.

Cana jumped out of her daze and chuckled when she noticed how red Lucy's face was. "Oh don't be a baby, Lucy. Enjoy the view. I sure do." She said and winked at Gray, who in return took another napkin from the table and covered himself even better, wondering where the fuck had all of his clothes disappear.

"So…" Natsu started saying, getting everyone's attention, tired of Gray being the centre of it. Everything between them had to be a competition. That's how it had been ever since the first time they had met. "Tell us something interesting about you, Lucy."

Lucy's face got even redder. She had hoped that they would talk about anything else other than her. She really wasn't an interesting person. She had the brains for studying and that was pretty much where the list ended. She was boring. Her life was boring.

"Uhm… well…" Nothing came to mind and Lucy mentally face-palmed herself. "I… write?" Her answer sounded more like a question and that made Natsu chuckle.

"Write? Like stories and stuff?" Natsu leaned on his elbow on the table, and focused all of his attention on her. Gray was busy looking around for his clothes, Cana was even more busier trying to take a glimpse of what was hiding under his napkins, and Levy was furiously texting someone.

Lucy nodded and started playing with her fingers under the table. "Yeah, stories and stuff like that."

She didn't know why, but Natsu made her feel shy. She had never really been a shy person. Sure, she wasn't the most out-going person either, but definitely somewhere in the middle. However, with Natsu, she felt strangely inferior. He had that colourful vibe, the one that screamed "I'm the best at everything I do and everyone loves me."

"Tell me more about it. Are you working on something now?" Natsu asked and Lucy lifted her head to look at him. Was he really interested, or was he simply making conversation? Her heart fluttered for a second the moment her eyes met his curious ones. He really wanted to know. He wasn't just being polite, she could see it in his eyes.

Lucy smiled and stopped fidgeting with her fingers. She moved her chair just a little to face him even better and propped her elbows on the table. "Yes, I actually am. It's just a short story that somehow resembles my life at the moment."

Natsu mimicked her action and scooted his chair closer to hers,. He gave her a cheeky grin, "What? The character in your story becomes the sister of an idiot as well?"

Grey turned his head and glared at Natsu "Hey, I heard that!"

Lucy chuckled and finally started to loosen up. Natsu and Gray were kinda cool at first glance. She found herself looking forward to getting to know them even better.

"Shut up, striper!" Natsu turned to glare at him and Gray almost forgot that he was completely naked and was about to stand up and start a fight with Natsu, when the soon-to-be-brawl was stopped short by Levy's sudden outburst.

"Oh Gajeel, you uncultured swine!" She stood up and hit the table with her small palm, while she was clutching the phone with her other hand. Everyone (lucky them that it wasn't a busy day for that cafe and that not too many people were witnessing their craziness) stopped what they were doing and looked at the blunette girl and for a second Lucy could picture her being a character in an anime that had smoke coming out of her ears. She bit her lip to stop a chuckle from escaping and took a deep breath before she asked her friend what was going on.

"Levy, are you okay? What's going on?" she asked and that seemed to bring the small girl back to reality. A small blush covered her cheeks and she sat back down quietly, chewing on her lower lip in embarrassment.

"No-nothing…" Levy squeaked, and covered her face with her palms.

"Did you say Gajeel?" Gray asked, with a small -almost easy to miss- smirk at the corner of his lips. "I know a Gajeel."

Levy's red face got ten shades darker and she dropped her head on the table with a loud bang, making everyone turn to look in their direction again.

"Yes, she said Gajeel." Cana answered for her, with a smirk of her own. Cana and Lucy knew about Levy's on-again-off-again relationship with an older guy named Gajeel. Apparently he was some sort of badass gang leader, with lots of piercings and tattoos all around his body, that had a heart of gold and honey when it came to Levy. The story starts when Levy kept getting harassed at school by two of his men and they put her in the hospital. Gajeel found out and beat the life out of the two boys and kept visiting her in the hospital, slowly falling in love with her. However, his crazy lifestyle usually got in the way of their love, and they would fight and make up all the time.

"That stupid metal face?" Natsu asked with his eyebrows furrowed. Man, he hated that guy. They had been classmates in high school and they would constantly piss each other off and get into fights all day long.

"Yes." Levy groaned, with her head still placed on the cold surface of the table.

"Where is he? Tell him to come here and fight me! I'm all fired up already!" Natsu grinned and fist bumped the air. As much as he hated the guy, the fights with him were really satisfying. The guy was strong, Natsu had to give him that. He would always keep him on alert during the fights, and Natsu loved it, because then he would have to give it all to win the fight. And there wasn't anything that Natsu loved more than to win. Anything. He just has to win at anything. That was the bet he made with himself for the rest of his life.

"Easy, firecracker." Grey rolled his eyes and slapped the back of Natsu's head.

Natsu turned to glare at his frenemy (friend-enemy. Natsu would never admit that he and Gray were friends-friends). "You wanna go, ice bucket?"

Lucy only knew the guys for a couple of hours but she already understood that the constant fighting between the two was a normal thing so she didn't even pay attention to them anymore, instead she turned to look at her two friends.

She placed a comforting hand on Levy's slumped shoulder and patted it gently. "Don't worry Levy, I'm sure that you'll work it out with Gajeel. After all, you'll have to bring him to my father's wedding as your plus one. You too Cana, I expect that you'll bring that half-asian cutie you've been talking to lately. What was his name again, Bacchus?"

"Yes, Bacchus." Cana grinned, with no sign of blushing, in comparison to Levy who was still red from before.

"Talking about the wedding…" Lucy started and mentally scolded herself for almost forgetting to ask the girls. "Ur, my father's future wife was hoping that the three of us, along with her daughter, could be the bridesmaids."

"Sure, I'm in." Cana answered with no hesitation and they both looked at Levy, waiting for her answer. The blunette nodded eagerly, forgetting about her conversation with Gajeel. She absolutely loved weddings. In fact, she had always hoped to become a wedding planer when she'll be older.

While the girls started talking about what they will wear, Gray and Natsu finished bickering and were talking quietly in their corner.

"So what do you think about your future step-sister?" Natsu asked and playfully hit Gray in the stomach with his elbow.

Gray glared at him for the millionth time that day and flicked his forehead. "I told you to stop being a pervert. She's going to be my sister, and you'll be dead before you make a move on her."

"Oh screw you man! She's hot and interesting. She may seem like lollipops and rainbows, but I bet behind closed doors she's latex and whips."

"You're sick." Gray deadpanned. "And disgusting."

"And you're thinking the same thing I do, you just can't say it out loud, since you're the **_big brother_** now."

"I hate you." was all Gray could say and he started shaking his head. Natsu burst out laughing and slapped Gray's shoulder.

"I hate you more." He gave Gray one of his trademark smirks before he zoned in on the girls' conversation. Thy were saying something about some stupid dresses that he didn't care about, unless they put Lucy's long legs on display.

Natsu watched her moves carefully. The way she smiled gracefully like a little lady, not showing too much teeth, with her small mouth slightly open. Her pretty nose up in the air, with her back straight and a good posture. The smallest amount of make up on her face, which helped to make her chocolate eyes pop lovely.

In less words, she was beautiful. He could not deny that. She was elegant, delicate, alluring and Natsu had no fucking idea why he even knew those words, let alone what made him describe her like that.

But there was something about her that spoke directly to him. He sure as hell wasn't going to listen to ice-ass Gray and stay away from her. Natsu was set on getting to know everything there was to know about her.

"You're going to be a bridesmaid?" He interrupted their conversation. Lucy turned to look at him and nodded.

"Awesome! I was asked to be a groomsmen since Gray is going to be your father's best man."

Lucy was glad to hear that. Maybe with her friends and Natsu and Gray she won't feel so bad to be at that wedding. Everything was going to be just fine. Maybe her father was right and she could make some great friends and create unforgettable memories with them.

"Ugh! Please don't remind me man!" Gray sighed and buried his head in his palms. Lucy looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Did he hate the idea of his mother getting re-married or what?

She was about to ask him about it when Natsu's burst of laughter interrupted her. He was throwing his head back and roaring with laughter, slapping Gray's back.

"You're a dick, Dragneel!" Gray groaned and stood up, holding the napkins to cover his down-south-assets but totally forgot to cover his behind too. The moment he stood up and turned his back to the table, Cana slapped his ass so hard Lucy could swear that even the people outside the coffee shop heard it.

His face turned into the darkest shade of red and he bolted out of the cafe, leaving everyone else inside to laugh their asses off. Natsu officially decided that he adored Cana and high-fived her, still shaking his head with laughter.

When the laughter finally died, Lucy turned to Natsu. "So why was Gray so upset about the wedding?"

His face split into a huge, mischievous grin. "He isn't upset about the wedding in itself. He was asked by his mother to do a speech during the ceremony. And he's pretty much scared shitless of speaking in front of that many people."

Lucy chuckled and mentally prayed that her father won't ask her to do that as well, because she had no freaking idea what she could possibly say about a wedding that she wasn't glad to be part of.

Silence took over their table. Levy went back to texting Gajeel, this time with a smile from ear to ear, meaning that they fixed the issues and were back on good terms. Cana was off at the bar, sweet-talking the bartender trying to get herself some free drinks with the help of her curvaceous body that was on full display (thanks to the denim shorts and bikini top she was wearing). Natsu was also texting someone before he suddenly stood up, startling Lucy.

"I have to go. Here's my share, and my number." He scrabbled the number on a napkin before handing it to Lucy with a wink and he left without another word.

It did make Lucy a little bit curious but she paid no mind to it. She didn't know the guy so it was none of her business why he left so suddenly.

A soft blush covered her cheeks as she stared down at the paper in her hand. Why did he give her his number? Was he… interested in her?

No, it couldn't be that. They've just met. He was probably just being friendly. Yeah, that had to be it.

But… why didn't he give his numbers to Levy and Cana? Maybe he was expecting her to give it to them?

 _Oh, damn it._ Lucy sucked at the whole "boys" chapter.

* * *

Finishing up the details about what they were going to wear at the wedding, the girls said goodbye and each left to their own house. It got pretty late and it was almost dark so Lucy tried her best to remember the way back home without opening the GPS on her phone. Her mother had warned her to never walk at night with the phone out, because it was dangerous.

She had half a mind to ignore the protective voice of her mother at the back of her mind, and just take her phone off to call her dad so he could pick her up from wherever the hell she was.

Or, maybe, she could call Natsu. Would that be awkward?

"Yup," she spoke out loud, popping the p "totally awkward."

Great, now she was talking to herself and making the people around give her weird looks. _Oh screw it!_

She fished in the bag for the phone and dialled the new number that was saved in the phone. _His number_.

Calling it his number made it even more awkward that the awkwardest awkward.

 _Awkwardest awkward?! Lucy, get a fucking grip!_

Before she could scold herself even more, the person on the other line picked up and a husky "Hello." made its way from Lucy's ear, down her spine all the way to the tips of her toes.

She was lame. That was the only word she could use to describe herself at the moment. She's known the guy for, like, what? 5-6 hours? And she was getting shivers down her spine from simply hearing his voice over the phone?

"Hello? You there?" Natsu's voice sounded again from the other line and she hit her forehead with the back of her palm. Great, now she seemed like a creepy stalker that calls the victim and doesn't say anything.

 _That's why you never get a boyfriend Lucy, you're a weirdo._

"Yes, sorry, I'm here. I got distracted by a…" Lucy looked around herself trying to find something plausible that could've distracted her. "A stone…"

Laughter burst from Natsu's end and Lucy wished that there was a hole right in front of her that could swallow her whole. A fucking stone? _And you call yourself smart, Lucy…_

"I suppose that you're Lucy, right?" He assumed with amusement in his voice.

"Yeah." She answered, but was currently wishing that she wasn't Lucy.

"You're such a weirdo."

 _Tell me about it._ "Yeah, thanks for noticing."

"So, I wasn't ecxpecting to hear from you so soon." Natsu admitted.

Lucy started playing with her hair as she tried her best to put together what she was about to say so she won't sound like a scared little girl. "I wasn't going to call you." She cringed at the unnecessary harsh tone she used and hurried to continue before he got the wrong idea. "But it got dark and I can't really remember the way back to the house so I just wanted someone to keep me some company while I try to find the freaking house."

"Oh yeah, I remember being new in town and trying to find my way around and getting lost all the time. Don't worry, you'll be fine in like a month and you'll know the town perfectly."

"I know most of it, I've been here before with a student exchange program in my first year of highschool. But Gray's house is in the opposite side of the town from where I'd lived then."

"That sounds interesting. What highschool did you go to?" he asked curiously.

"Fairy Tail High."

"That was my highschool. Can you believe it? Maybe we've even met before." He chuckled but something caught Lucy's attention. _Was_ his highschool? So he's older than her? It just now occurred to her that she forgot to ask Gray how old he was. She just assumed that they were the same age.

"Wait, how old are you?" Lucy asked and was relieved to see Ur's house at the end of the street. Even though her communication skills might be lame, but her memory was perfect.

"I'm 20, you?"

"18." 18 years, 3 months and 21 days, but who's counting, right?

Lucy opened the front door and smiled at her father, who was sitting on the couch with Gray. "Listen, Natsu, I just got home, so I've got to hang up, but thanks for accompanying me."

"Sure thing Luce. Any time." The call ended and Lucy made her way to the couch, sitting between her father and her soon-to-be-step-brother.

"Lucy, perfect timing. We were just talking about the speech that Gray has to do at the wedding." Her father announced happily, while Gray groaned quietly next to her.

Jude continued, "I was thinking that, maybe, if you'd like to, you could do it together with him. What do you say?"

Lucy's eyes widened and she turned to look at Gray. His face was pale and he looked like he was about to die just from thinking about that damn speech. She patted his shoulder and smiled reassuringly.

"Sure, Gray and I will do it together."

Gray's face softened and he breathed out relieved. In the meantime Lucy mentally hit herself right in the face with a chair for accepting the damn thing. What was she going to say?!


End file.
